15 more children die in 24 hours at BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur

With this the toll in the BRD college hospital has gone up to 1,341 so far this year.

lucknowUpdated: Sep 04, 2017 22:07 IST

HT Correspondent Gorakhpur, Hindustan Times

A child receiving treatment at the BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur.(HT File)

Fifteen more children died at the BRD Medical College hospital in Gorakhpur in the last 24 hours and 61 new patients were admitted to the neonatal, general paediatric and encephalitis wards during the same period, medical college principal Dr PK Singh said on Monday.

A total of 27 new patients of acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) were among those admitted.

Four of the deaths were caused by acute encephalitis syndrome (AES). The remaining 11 deaths were reported from the neo-natal and the general paediatric wards, Singh said.

With this the toll in the BRD college hospital has gone up to 1,341 so far this year, he said.

At present, 333 children are under treatment in all the three wards .

Singh said that all out efforts were being made to improve the medical facilities in the BRD Medical College, which has been in the news over the scores of deaths of children last month.

Meanwhile, 18 more paediatricians (child specialists) joined the hospital on Monday, almost a month after over 30 children died on August 10 and 11 due to alleged disruption of oxygen supply.

Also, 40 more warmers for the newborns were procured from the government.

The joining of the child specialists is expected to help improve services at the medical college which has been grappling with shortage of doctors.

The 18 new doctors have been transferred from other government-run hospitals. They comprise 10 junior residents, seven medical officers and newly-appointed paediatric department head Dr RP Singh.

Till now, eight child specialists used to treat a large number of children admitted in the encephalitis, neonatal and paediatric wards.

Singh said induction of more doctors would help improve treatment.

As there were only 16 warmers for infants so far, two-four newborn were forced to share the same machine at a given time but procurement of 40 warmers will help improve the situation, he added.